Fire-extinguisher



(No Model.)

W. P. BENDING.

FIRE EXTINGUISHER.

No. 393,606; Patented Nov. 27, 1888.

Ira/621w)? n, PETERS. Photomlwgnpher. Wnm m, n.c.

UNITE STATES WlLLIAM P. BENDING,

.Arnrvir Erica.

OF COLUMBUS, OH 10.

FIRE-EXTINGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 393,606, dated November27, 1888 Application filed February 27, 1888. Scrial No. 165,444. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. BENDING, a citizen of the United States,residing at C0- lumbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Extinguishers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in firecxtinguishing devices forrailwaycar heaters; and itconsists in the peculiar construction andcombination of devices that will be more fully set forth hereinafter,and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical scetional view of a car-heaterprovided with a fire-extinguishing device embodying my improvements.Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are detail perspectiveviews of the frangible vessel, the case inclosing the same, and thevertically-movable rod having the strap inclosing the'case and providedwith a stud to split the case and break the frangible vessel when therod is moved.

A represents a car-heater, such as described in my patent, No. 382,507,dated May 8, 1888. The said heater comprises an inner case, B, and anouter case, G, enveloping the same. The lower portion of the inner case,B, forms the fire-box, and said innercase has, at asuitable distancefrom its lower side, an inclined chute, D, which extends through theouter case, 0, and is provided on its outer end with a hinged door, E.Coal or other fuel is fed to the fire through the chute I) by firstopening the door E.

Arranged below the base of the heater, and secured to the same by boltsH, is a reservoir or vessel, G, which is nearly or entirely filled withwater, and is provided on one side with a man-hole, I, which is coveredby the plate K, that is bolted to the reservoir. From the upper side ofthe latter, at the center of the same, depend a pair of stirrups, L.

M represents a rectangular case, which is made of soft wood, the grainof which extends in the direction of the length of the sides of thecase, so that the latter may be readily split 1ongitudinally. One end ofsaidcase is covered by a thin sheet of wood, N, which has a centralopening, 0, and the other end of said case is open, and is provided witha bar, hook, or keeper, P, which has one end pivoted to one 's'de of thecase, and has a slot in the other end, which is adapted to engage a pin,R, which project from the opposite side of the case.

S represents a pair of longitudinal openk ings which are made inopposite sides of the case. The said caseM is inserted between thestirrups L, and is supported by the same in the upper side 01' thereservoir, and the open end of said case is arranged opposite theman-hole l.

T represents a bottle or vessel of suitable size to fit in the case M,said bottle or vessel being made of glass or other frangible material.The said bottle or vessel is first filled with a suitable chemicalcompound adapted to develop an expansive gas of great power when incontact with water, and the same is then corked and is inserted throughthe man-hole into the case M. The bottle or vessel is moved lengthwisein the said case until its neck is passed through the opening 0, asshown in Fig. 5, and the keeper, bar, or hook P is then turned downwardand caused to engage the pin R, and is thus arranged transversely acrossthe outer end of the bottle or vessel, and serves to secure the sameagainst accidental displacement from the case, and retains the samefirmly therein.

U represents a rectangular strap which passes loosely around the sidesof case M at the center thereof, said yoke or strap being adapted toplay slightly in a vertical direction on said case. From the upper sideof the strap or yoke depends an inverted conical stud, V, the point ofwhich normally bears upon the upper side of the case, and to the lowerside of said yoke or strap is secured a vertical depending rod, V, whichpasses through astuffing-box, X, in the bottom of the reservoir, andalso passes through the bottom of the car in which the heater islocated, and is provided at a suitable distance from its lower end witha vertical slot, Y. To the lower end of said the bottom of the same.

inner end made wedge shaped and is thereby provided with a cam, B, whichextends through the slot Y of rod YV, and the lower inclined side ofsaid cam bears against the lower end of said slot.

G represents a supplemental cndwiseinovable rod, which extends throughan opening in one side of the reservoir, has its outer end rigidlysecured to one end of the car, and has its inner end arranged oppositeone of the openings S of case M.

The heater is provided with a pair of vertical pipes, D, the lower openends of which are submerged in the water of the reservoir and extendnearly to the bottom of the same, and the upper open ends of whichcommunicate with the heater at a suitable distance above the fire-box,as shown.

The operation of my invention is as follows: In the event thatone end ofthe ear is smashed in in a railway accident the rod A will be driveninward, so as to cause its cam 13 to force the rod V downward, andthereby cause the yoke or strap U to descend and cause the conical studV of said strap or yoke to pass through the upperside of the case M,split the same from end to end, and enter and break the frangible v sselT, so as to liberate the chemical contents thereof. The said chemicalsas soon as they come in contact with the water in the reservoir developan expansive gas of great power, and thereby force the water up throughthe pipes 13 into the heater and thoroughly and instantaneouslyextinguish the tire therein.

In the event that the car should topple from an embankment, that one ofits wheels or axles should become broken, or that it should beoverturned in a collision orjunlp the track, the truck as it leaves thecar-body will exert a powerful pull on the rod Z and thereby operate therod V with the result before stated. The supplemental rod C may beemployed in lieu of the cam-rod A, or it may be employed in additionthereto, as here shown. It will be readily understood thatsaidsupplemental rod will, when the end of the car is smashed in, be driventhrough the opening S in the case and through one side of the frangiblevessel, so as to break the same.

I am aware that it is broadly old to construct a fire-extinguisher witha bottle filled with acidulated water, which bottle is adapted to bebroken by a ball, and this I disclaim. My

Thus

in my device there is no likelihood of the bot tle being broken byasudden jar such as which all trains are subjected to in ordinary courseof travel. This would, however, happen were the bottle to be broken byits fall or by the displacement of a ball, as in the constructionreferred to.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination, infire'extingnishing devices for railwaycar heaters, of the reservoir, thefrangible vessel for containing acid secured therein, the rod W,connected to said frangible vessel and adapted to break the same whensaid rod is forcibly moved, and the chain connecting the said rod withthe car-truck, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in fire-extinguishing devices for railway'cars, ofthe reservoir, the frangible vessel for containing chemicals supportedin thcreservoir, the rod 7, connected to the said frangible vessel andadapted to break the same when the rod is forcibly moved, the chain orlink to connect said rod to one of the car-trucks, and the rod A,adapted to be secured to one end of the car and having the cam engagingsaid rod \V, substantially as de scribed.

3. The combination, in firc-cxtinguishing apparatus for railway-cars, ofthe reservoir, the case M,sccured therein, the frangible vessel forcontaining chemicals secured in said case, the strap or yoke around thecase having the stud adapted to puncture or split the case and to breakthe frangible vessel when the strap or yoke is moved forcibly, andconnections between said strap or yoke and the sides, end, or truck ofthe car, substantially as described.

4. The combination, in fire extinguishing devices for railway-carheaters, of the case M, secured in the reservoir and adapted to bereadily split, the frangible vessel for containing chemicals secured insaid case, the strap or yoke U, inclosing the case and having the stud Vbearing on the top of the latter, depending rod W, extending from theyoke or strap through the bottom of the car and having slotY, and therod A, attached to the car and having the cam B extending through slotY, substantially as described.

In testimony thatI claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM I. BEN DING.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. CURTIS, J OHN BENDING.

